Expanding Our Homeschool Family

On June 26, 2009 we welcomed our 9th child into the world. Madison Elaine became the newest member of our family.

My pregnancy and the actual birth experience were both teaching and learning opportunities for all of the kids in our family. Some of the kids learned the basics regarding the body and babies, and others, depending on age and maturity level, learned more in depth about how the human body works. I guess you could say we had a nine month science experiment going!

The kids were all so excited to be getting a new baby sister. We faced many ups and downs during the pregnancy, all of which incorporated into lessons without really being "lessons" or "school". The kids learned about diabetes and how our bodies use insulin and how what we eat affects our blood sugar levels as I gave myself insulin shots every day. They learned about genetics and how our newest baby would have blue eyes like the rest of the family because both my husband and I have only recessive genes (in eye color) to pass on to each child. They learned about how things can go wrong when the body is forming inside the womb when we were told our baby would have Spina Bifida. They learned our faith was strong when we decided that the diagnosis didn't matter and we would welcome the baby regardless of what problems she might have. The pregnancy was a teaching tool like no other!

I know that our kids could learn so many of the same lessons we are teaching them if they were in school (genetics, nutrition, etc). I can't, however, believe that those lessons would stay with them in the same manner as when they learned them through hands on experiences that mean so much to them personally. While only our oldest actually witnessed the birth of her sister, the others were so involved each and every day that the knowledge they gained through my pregnancy experience will last them a lifetime. My pregnancy not only provided a wonderful learning opportunity for my children but being able to be at home throughout the journey instead of in school away from me all the time has allowed them to bond in a manner I think they would have missed out on if they were in school.

I love our homeschooling life and I feel so fortunate to be able to expand our homeschooling family. Our children are excited to have another sibling and I feel so blessed that I will have another mind to feed and nurture. Life is good.

Michelle can be found writing about her ever expanding family at her blog, Pass The Flu Bug Please.

Using Math Manipulatives

What are math manipulatives?
A math manipulative is an educational term for anything you can get your fingers around that you can count or measure with.

Why use math manipulatives?
They can help a child understand a math concept by visualizing what is being taught rather then just looking at numbers. They are a way to explore math beyond an abstract thought on a sheet of paper.

Here are a list of manipulatives that come in handy throughout the elementary years:

1. Base ten blocks, or counting blocks are all the same color, generally. The child focuses on the size of the blocks and can easily identify between a ten and a hundred. They can learn to add and subtract by learning the decimal system, which is units, tens, hundreds, thousands etc...

2. Cuisenaire rods start with a 1 cm. cube and gradually advance to 10cm with each length changing colors. The child learns how many each color stands for and can add, subtract, multiply, divide, do fractions etc. with these rods.

3. Pattern blocks are good for teaching patterns: green triangle, yellow hexagon, green triangle, yellow hexagon....what comes next? You can learn fractions, geometry shapes, tessellations patterns that fit inside another shape). And, these make a great quiet activity for all ages to sit and play with. There are numerous books that you can find that compliment these blocks.

4. Money! You can teach counting by 1's with pennies, 5's with nickles, 10's with dimes, and 25's with quarters. When you do this, you are teaching the value of money and prepping them for learning their multiplication facts.

5. M&M's are a fun way to learn how to add, subtract, multiply and divide while providing colorful little melt-in-your-mouth candy to snack on. You can get a book called M&M Chocolate Candy Math that has fun activities to do with M&M's.

6. Straws can be used for measuring things like desks, couches, tables, rooms, or a child's height. It's fun to find out how many straws an object's length is. This is a pre-cursor to measuring with inches and meters later on. You can also use straws taped up in bundles of 10 and play estimating games.

Some math programs are designed for us with math manipulatives. Here's a short list of a few to look into, if you do not want to come up with your own math curriculum:

Math-U-See

Miquon Math

Saxon Math

Family Math

Written by Brenda, classically eclectic mother of 5. You can find her writing about her homeschooling journey at Tie That Binds Us.

Inexpensive Summer Fun: Fabric Markers!

Have some old t-shirts, some bored kids, and summer days to hot to step outside of the air conditioned comfort of your home? Then, you have almost all of the ingredients for simple, relatively inexpensive, creative fun.

All you need to add is a package of fabric markers!

We got a set of six at Wal-mart for just under $10 and my kids have probably already had at least $10 worth of fun. We're going to be scouring the house for some plain canvas (or other fabric) bags and hats once we tire of shirts, but the simple purchase of fabric markers has bought me hours of quiet, happy creativity over the last couple of days.

What do your kids like to do when it's too hot to get outside?

Kris is the sweet-tea-drinking, classically eclectic, slightly Charlotte Mason, homeschooling mom to her three Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

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Kitchen Learning Activities for Your Preschooler

There are lots of preschool curricula available, but I think that one of the best ways for preschoolers to learn is through discovering their natural environment.

Here are some great kitchen activities (which can really be done with many ages, not just preschoolers):

1. Let them eat their shapes -- Cut a variety of food into different shapes. Talk about names of shapes. If you have lots of shapes, you can work on sorting them as well.

2. Stacking and Sorting -- Little ones can work on skills like stacking and sorting through helping to empty the dishwasher. While you need to be careful of sharp utensils, kids can do a great job working on sorting the utensil drawer. Another great thing to classify (and stack) are plates and bowls. If your house is like mine, you might have more than one size plate and bowl. The visual discrimination is great practice!

3. Cook Together -- This can be a short process or a longer process. For the longer process, have your child help pick out a simple recipe. Then, make a grocery list with them and take a field trip to the grocery store. Finish up the project, of course, by having them help to prepare the recipe. Allow them to help as much as they are able.

What are other some other ways that you try to include your preschoolers in kitchen learning activities?


When Angie isn't trying to be patient with many helping hands in the kitchen, she can be found writing at Many Little Blessings.

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photo by Valerie Everett

Harry Potter Board Games

For my son, the first Harry Potter novel was a "gateway book." He picked it up because he had seen parts of the movie, heard about the characters and was very curious about that magical world. Once he had read The Sorcerer's Stone, he realized he could read books that were more than 150 pages and didn't have pictures on every other page. He went on to finish all seven books (many times over) and now jumps at the chance to read another series, like the Percy Jackson books. He's become a whole new type of reader, and it's all thanks to Harry.

I'm sure there are lots of other families that had the same experience, and plenty who aren't there yet. For all of you, keep an eye out for Harry Potter board games! For those of us who already live in the world of wizardry, it's a fun way to indulge a passion and pick up a few skills along the way. For kids who haven't started reading Harry Potter yet, playing the board games can be a great way to pique their interest and maybe get them excited to crack open the books.

The Harry Potter phenomenon is huge, of course, and there are more than 30 games on BoardGameGeek listed under a search for "Harry Potter." The games range from trivia games (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Trivia Game) to games with moving plastic parts (Harry Potter Whomping Willow Game) to plenty of familiar games with a Harry theme (Harry Potter Uno). You can certainly find a game to suit any taste!

This week, my son was given Harry Potter Clue for his birthday, and the game immediately jumped to #1 favorite. What's great about this new version of Clue is that there are 4 cardboard discs beneath the game board which are turned to open or close doorways and secret passages.

Harry Potter Clue works much like basic Clue. There are suspect, object and room cards, and one of each is set aside in a tiny envelope. One of the students has vanished, and players have to determine whether it was Draco Malfoy with the Vanishing Cabinet in the Potions Classroom or Beatrix Lestrange with the Mandrake in the Owlery.

Players roll three dice to move between the rooms - two normal dice and one that has special labels. When the picture of a Hogwarts house comes up (Griffindor, Ravenclaw, etc.), the player turns the corresponding cardboard circle one notch. This can open or close doors to the rooms, change the availability of secret passages, and possibly reveal the Dark Mark.

This special version of Clue comes with a deck of Dark Mark cards, which reveal something bad that happens, who it happens to, and how many House Points it costs. If a player doesn't have the matching Help card to escape, they lose some of their House Points. Running out of House Points means you're out of the game - and if all players run out, the Dark forces win!

The addition of the turning game board parts and the Dark Mark cards makes this game of Clue significantly different from the original, but familiar enough to play easily. It was a fast favorite in our house!

My son loves Harry Potter Clue because he loves Harry Potter. Have you played board games based on books? I'd love to hear about your favorites!

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In between board games - and novels - PisecoMom homeschools her two kids over at Mind Games.

pictures courtesy of BoardGameGeek

TMBG

I don't know if you've heard of them, but we love the band They Might Be Giants! My husband and I were fans before we had kids, but they have a lot of "educational" songs that are great for kids. Below are some of our favorites! If you enjoy them, they also have a podcast geared towards kids.

Why Does the Sun Shine (Ka-Blam version)



Seven Days of the Week



Particle Man



Istanbul (Tiny Toons)




One of my favorite songs is "Mammal" but I couldn't find a video for it, but definitely download it to your MP3 player if you have one! (Also, don't let your kids visit the youtube site itself for the videos, they may have filthy language in the comments).

Do you have any educational songs or videos you'd like to share?

Katie lives in Indiana where she whines about the cold in winter and the humidity in summer. You can find her blogging at Just Another Catholic Mom.

Science Curriculum: Weigh In With Your Choice

In my last post a reader, Multiple personalities, had stated that they would be "all ears" for some science books/text recommendations. So I went on a search for her to find a variety of options.

Apologia: Chances are if you have asked a number of families what curriculum they use for science the name "Apologia" will come up at least once (maybe more!). That's because it is a favorite in the Christian homeschool circle.

We personally have used it for the Physical Science course and currently are using it for Biology.

These are definitely rigorous courses that at the high school level prepare the student for college courses.

Apologia has courses for all ages though, from Kindergarten right through 12th grade. With many resources to supplement all the levels (from the company themselves as well as from independent companies) this is indeed a thorough and complete option for science.

A Reason For Science: This is another curriculum we have used.

Less "book work" than Apologia this course is all about hands on learning. Possibly because A Reason for Science's premise is based on that "learning science is an active process".

What we really liked about the program is that you can purchase a kit along with the curriculum that has almost all you need to do the experiments. The extra items are (for the most part) regular household items or easily obtained.

A Reason for Science courses are available for 1st through 8th grades.

Friendly Chemistry: We dabbled briefly for a review in this curriculum meant for upper middle to high school students. For a more in depth review you can visit my blog. We plan on picking it up again where we left off when we are done our Biology course.

It is a fun and interactive way to learn chemistry basics. I would not consider it a pre-college chemistry class, but if you have middle schoolers who love science or a student that has no intention of needing a really strong science base in college it is sufficient for those purposes.

Answers In Genesis: We have used books from AIG.org, specifically one entitled Evolution: The Grand Experiment, to supplement our studies. AIG.org offers a variety of books and curricula for science with a creation perspective throughout.

Other books and curricula I found, but have no personal experience with are Mudpies to Magnets, R.E.A.L. Science, Rainbow Science, Real Science 4 Kids and Singapore Science.

So weigh in for Multiple personalities, fellow readers. Tell us what you use for science books and texts and how you like them (or not!).

Picture Credit Optimal Tweezer

Tammy's blog is located at Three Different Directions, where she does product reviews and giveaways. She has a couple of giveaways running there right now. Visit her blog to see how you can enter to win.

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